Case studies
David Robinson
I am 31 years old and I live in Dulwich with my girlfriend. I work for YourStory as a youth development worker. This is the first real job I have ever had and I love it - I am happy with my life and it is getting better and better but it has not always been so good.
I am the oldest of four children. My mum is deaf and dumb and I have no father in my life. My mum has never been able to work and due to her disability she was often unhappy and depressed, which meant that not only were we poor but I also had a lot of responsibility from an early age. Unfortunately, I ended up in the wrong crowd and by the time I was 12, I was committing crime, smoking, taking drugs and drinking. I was angry with my life.
I dropped out of school, and crime and drugs became my life. After a string of court appearances, at the age of 15 I finally got what I wanted and was sent to prison. For years my attitude towards life and my way of thinking has been destructive, even after receiving a seven year prison term for bank robbery and my son being born, I was still very much lost.
My will to live was fading rapidly and my drug addiction was getting worse. In 2001 I was still committing serious crime to fund my crack habit and I was homeless, moving from crack house to crack house. In 2002 something happened that I can only describe as a miracle (I would have you here all week if I went into that now so I will just say that I was given my second, and probably last, chance).
After being in prison for burglary I was sentenced to two years rehab. Finally I started to break the cycle of drug use that tore me and my family and friends apart for so many years. Slowly I started to take responsibility and address my issues. This was the beginning of my new life.
Whilst in rehab I met Darren and Tony who became good friends of mine. They gave me support and also took me along to football with Street League. Finally I started to get structure in my life and I became very passionate about my football. Our team was called Crazy Legs - I became very good friends with my team mates and they introduced me to Adrian.
I was given a place in the Street League Rep eleven-a-side team and in 2003 I was one of the people selected to go to Brazil. While I was in Brazil I saw a lot of poverty and I began to realise how good we had it in England. During this time I also got to know Adrian better.
The football team wanted to play weekly in a league but Street League said that they could not help us so we went to Adrian. At this point I was in college studying NVQ Level 1 in plumbing which took up a lot of my time. Andy, Darren and Adrian sorted out the football team and one day I got a call asking me if I wanted to play for this new team called YourStory FC, so for one season I played every Saturday and I also attended training sessions.
In 2004 I finally got my own flat, met a new girlfriend and started having regular contact with my son. Everything seemed to be going really well but I needed to get a job. In summer 2005 I got a call from Andy offering me a job working for YourStory. I was given a youth development worker position and I started working with young people. I am now confident in my work and do a lot of sport with the young people, as well as personal development sessions. The rewards are great - the young people we work with are all very different ranging from shy to loud but throughout the course the change I see in the young people is amazing. I love my job - watching a group of young people better their lives is so satisfying!